Risk Factors for Cryptography Systems

There is no simple formula for determining how safe a specific cryptosystem is from attacks and potential security compromises. However, the following factors affect the risk of successful attacks on cryptosystems:

Symmetric key length

Public key length

Key lifetimes

Amount of plaintext known to attackers

Strength of the security technology implementation

Randomness of generated keys

Strength of the security protocols

Secure storage of private keys

The following sections are a summary of the complex topics you need to consider when you evaluate risks for cryptography-based security. For more detailed information about the following topics, see the cryptography literature referenced under "Additional Resources" at the end of this chapter.